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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: prune · spell · bear · current · pitch · mine · last · season

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. last — to go on
  6. current — happening now
  7. current — electric
  8. prune — to trim
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. season — of the year
  11. spell — letters
  12. season — in sport
  13. spell — a short time
  14. pitch — completely
  15. bear — the animal
  16. last — final
  17. bear — the animal
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. prune — to trim
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. spell — magic
  22. mine — for digging
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. current — of water

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com